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Fatwa CenterThe permissibility of marrying an ex-psychiatric woman
Question
Alsalamualikom. I have recently met a sister through an islamic marriage site. We have been talking for around a month and things have been going well. Lately she has informed me about some issues that she went through, mainly that she used to have sever depression around a year ago (was in hospital for a year) and underwent shock therapy. She says that she is better allhamdullah and has a lot of love for Allah. I appreciate her honesty and truthfulness but i am not sure of her stability in fear of recurrence or that it would be passed to the children, especially that her depression was triggered by a chemical imbalencement and not a life event. I have done a lot of research on the matter but have not found any islamic material on depression and marriage. What is the islamic view on marrying someone who had/has mental health issues. Will Allah barek in the marriage, am i supposed to help her(she has some problems like not wearing hijab and smoking and doesn't like being told what to do) or is it best to avoid her and let her deal with her own issues, bearing in mind ill feel guilty for leaving after her being honest about her issue.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His Slave and Messenger.
It is permissible to marry a psychiatric woman. The permissibility of doing so is even more certain if she has been cured. In fact, the four Imaams agreed that it is permissible to marry an insane woman, let alone a mentally ill one.
However, if this woman smokes and does not wear Hijab, then she is not satisfactory in terms of her religion and not suitable as a wife. In addition to this, if she does not like to be told what to do, then this means that she may not acknowledge your guardianship for her, and so, she may not obey you in what is permissible. This may lead to many problems. Allaah, The Almighty, says (what means): {Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allaah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth.} [Quran 4:34]
Abu Hurayrah 
related that the Prophet said: "If I were to command anyone to make prostration before anyone other than Allaah, I would have commanded the wife to make prostration before her husband." [At-Tirmithi]
Therefore, we do not advise you to marry such a woman, and you should look for another woman to marry. You should also end your relationship with her, as it is not permissible for a man to speak with a non-Mahram woman without a need, which should be determined accordingly.
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 87761, 86580 and 85117.
Allaah Knows best.
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